Ansett/TAA Fokker Friendship
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: BRISBANE QLD AUSTRALIA
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Now there was the best ever use of a large plastic rubbish bin!
You'd get arrested and the key thrown away, trying the same caper in todays P.C. climate.
Regards.....
You'd get arrested and the key thrown away, trying the same caper in todays P.C. climate.
Regards.....
In addition to the write off's of EWL at Bathurst and FNH at Launceston the most tragic F27 loss in Australia was TFB; the first TAA F27-100 off Mackay on 10 June 1960 with the loss of all 29 on board.
I'm gunna get a little bit weird here, but ....
Was watching a doco on robots last night and an interesting point was made. We humans are attracted to any machine that looks, no matter how obscurely, like a face ... that is, maybe some eyes and a mouth and eyebrows.
I've always thought the F27 had a "bit of a face about it" ... albeit, perhaps a dog's. Maybe that's why we are attracted to some aircraft (eg F27) and not others (eg A380)??
Anyway, got to go now ... or I'll be late for my therapy appointment!
Was watching a doco on robots last night and an interesting point was made. We humans are attracted to any machine that looks, no matter how obscurely, like a face ... that is, maybe some eyes and a mouth and eyebrows.
I've always thought the F27 had a "bit of a face about it" ... albeit, perhaps a dog's. Maybe that's why we are attracted to some aircraft (eg F27) and not others (eg A380)??
Anyway, got to go now ... or I'll be late for my therapy appointment!
RE the U Tube footage....
Recently caught up with a friend I shared a flat with at that time. He worked in the PR dept at AN. Ran it past him and was surprised to be told that he was on board the light twin at the time of the incident.
Apparently the Co was doing a series of air to air shots of all the fleet types.
Was hushed up afterwards. Presume the Co picked up the laundry bills!.
Reasonable to assume the a/c was being flown by a supervisory pilot... being a non revenue flt.
Emeritus ( non supervisory pilot at the time ! )
Recently caught up with a friend I shared a flat with at that time. He worked in the PR dept at AN. Ran it past him and was surprised to be told that he was on board the light twin at the time of the incident.
Apparently the Co was doing a series of air to air shots of all the fleet types.
Was hushed up afterwards. Presume the Co picked up the laundry bills!.
Reasonable to assume the a/c was being flown by a supervisory pilot... being a non revenue flt.
Emeritus ( non supervisory pilot at the time ! )
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Ah! the load-sheet plus the rotten progressive load-sheet; them's were the days Givelda.
However, BNE F/Os learnt very rapidly particularly flying with Capt. Huey Yorston. On the rare occasions Huey relented and gave the F/O a leg when doing the progressive load-sheet in flight, one would suddenly find Huey hand flying the beast. End of F/Os leg.
Not to be outdone we learnt to complete the load-sheet and progressive on the ground, talk to the refueller, girls and/or Locals and then when Huey relented, gave you the leg you hand flew it the whole way preventing from getting his hands upon it. He would attempt to distract you to get you to take you hands off but overall, we were too smart for him and would not let go. Improved your flying ability no end! (we also learnt ensuring the progressive added up left to right plus top to bottom was `clerks' work leaving this to them -never questioned at all)
Flew the F-27 the same as he used to fly Spitfires and V2+20 rotation out of Charters Towers was normal; how the F-27 fleet fuselages were not bent in the middle is testament to Fokker.
Great aircraft, great flying around Queensland and the Territory where the times had by all were terrific; the layovers legends; The Allen Hotel, Townsville plus the Red lion Motel in Cairns.
Those were the days!
ps>> Charlie: usually through Mt Gambier to do the Center run.
However, BNE F/Os learnt very rapidly particularly flying with Capt. Huey Yorston. On the rare occasions Huey relented and gave the F/O a leg when doing the progressive load-sheet in flight, one would suddenly find Huey hand flying the beast. End of F/Os leg.
Not to be outdone we learnt to complete the load-sheet and progressive on the ground, talk to the refueller, girls and/or Locals and then when Huey relented, gave you the leg you hand flew it the whole way preventing from getting his hands upon it. He would attempt to distract you to get you to take you hands off but overall, we were too smart for him and would not let go. Improved your flying ability no end! (we also learnt ensuring the progressive added up left to right plus top to bottom was `clerks' work leaving this to them -never questioned at all)
Flew the F-27 the same as he used to fly Spitfires and V2+20 rotation out of Charters Towers was normal; how the F-27 fleet fuselages were not bent in the middle is testament to Fokker.
Great aircraft, great flying around Queensland and the Territory where the times had by all were terrific; the layovers legends; The Allen Hotel, Townsville plus the Red lion Motel in Cairns.
Those were the days!
ps>> Charlie: usually through Mt Gambier to do the Center run.
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R M Ansett's farm in the Riverina.
Irregularly came up. Did one with the then F27 boss (who also had done my endorsement when I joined AN) - TW. RM just relaxed in the back seat and, as I recall, a very easy flight out and back.
the load-sheet plus the rotten progressive load-sheet
Easier setup in AN, the F/O just ran the normal sheet leg to leg as required. Mostly done during some convenient minute or two on descent. Then, again, trimsheets are amongst my stock in trade engineering stuff so I had an advantage. Sometimes still wish I had taken up an F27 command rather than wait for the jet ... track trips were the bee's knees.
Irregularly came up. Did one with the then F27 boss (who also had done my endorsement when I joined AN) - TW. RM just relaxed in the back seat and, as I recall, a very easy flight out and back.
the load-sheet plus the rotten progressive load-sheet
Easier setup in AN, the F/O just ran the normal sheet leg to leg as required. Mostly done during some convenient minute or two on descent. Then, again, trimsheets are amongst my stock in trade engineering stuff so I had an advantage. Sometimes still wish I had taken up an F27 command rather than wait for the jet ... track trips were the bee's knees.
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In Tennant Creek there is a shop, or at least there was when I was there 2008, and the owner had a large pin board with cuttings from the local rag concerning aircraft that had visited. There was one cutting with a photo of, I think, 4 x F27s on the tarmac; TAA, Ansett, BPA and I can't recall the fourth, maybe Connair but not sure.
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I might be a little bit off track here but I went to PNG as a 4 year old in Madang. As a primary school kid I had many a bike ride out to Madang airport to see QANTAS DC3's and Gibbes Sepik Airways JU52 heading up to the highlands to help build towns like Goroka and Mount Hagen, Minj, Banz etc. Off to Qld boarding school in 1961...faaaarq. Anyway aviation was in my blood and I still have strong memories of DC4, Super Constellation courtesy of QANTAS and then DC 6 and Electra flights (TAA and ANSETT ANA) between Port Moresby/Lae and Oz. My first job (age 17) was with Burns Phillp in Kavieng as the TAA AGENT. We used to get 4 DC 3's a week if I recall which I would meet and do the load sheet etc. After a few months of agent I got a job with TAA in Goroka, which brings me to F 27 Friendships. The friendlies started flying into Goroka around mid 1967 if my memory serves correctly. It was mainly TFK and TFL. WE still got lots of DC 3's namely SBA, SBI, SBO and SBU were fitted out as pax aircraft and the rest of the Sunbird '3's were cargo/side saddle birds. So the moral of this story is that the Fokkers were a big leap forward in the New Guinea that I was brought up in.
Ah, those great days of noisy RPTs! So a civvie flight from Williamtown to Adelaide would either be a Masling Bandit to Sydney or AN F27. Then a DC-9 or B727 to Adelaide.
